The internet hummed quietly this morning on inauspicious word that the rumored buyout of 1UP.com and Ziff-Davis game group by Hearst Media (owners of the high-traffic but surprisingly low profile UGO gaming portal) had gone through this week. Originally, word was seen on news portal PaidContent.org, and though the story was quickly pulled down this morning, it remained indexed in Google’s cache and RSS feeds. However, it was thought that this would likely mean a few layoffs while UGO attempted to fit 1UP.com within their content stable.
Unfortunately, this was not to be:
Based on Twitter and forum posts by (now former) 1UP staff, it appears all but certain that the 1UP Show video podcast and 1UP Yours audio podcast are no more.
…
[Update: Joystiq has obtained what is, according to our sources, the full list of 1UP / EGM staffers laid off in the wake of the ZD/UGO deal: (eds. note: we can confirm that this list is accurate based on our own sources)]
Adrian Frieg
Amy Mishra
Amy Moran
Andrea Garcia
Andrew Fitch
Andrew “Skip” Pfister
Anthony Gallegos
Cesar Quintero
Christina Rosa
CoyLou Steel
Derek Chinn
Doug Parsons
Eric Ellis
Giancarlo Varanini
Greg Ford
James “Milkman” Mielke
Jason Bertrand
Jason Wilson
Jervilyn Jaramillo
Justin Frechette
Leslie Gelfand
Marci Yamaguchi
Matt Chandronait
May Tong
Meredith Stowe
Michael Donahoe
Monique Convertito
Ndubuisi Madu
Nick Suttner
Norris Boothe
Philip Kollar
Rey Serrano
Robert Bowen
Rosemary Pinkham
Ryan O’Donnell
Ryan Scott
Shane Bettenhausen
Simon Cox
Tammy Ross
Tipler Ubbelohde
This is our first post in about 10 months, and I wish it were under better auspices. However, this will not be the last. There may be a period of silence while we finish formulating plans that we had been discussing for some time, but eat-sleep-game will be back in action soon, with a new look, and some new faces. In the meantime, our hearts are with our friends at 1up (of which there are many). See you real soon, bitches.
-Arthur Gies, eic, eat-sleep-game